Our trainees – the first month

A training contract is a great way for graduates and aspiring solicitors to begin their career journey through the legal industry. Completing various ‘seats’ within the two-year training programme, trainees experience different areas of the business in order to maximise their knowledge across a broad range of subjects. It also enables them to gain the practical experience and commercial skills required to be a great solicitor and deliver the best possible support to personal injury clients.

And, in what is believed to be an industry first, Minster Law training contracts also encompass a Business Seat, which allows trainees to understand all aspects of the whole business, and see the contribution the solicitors make to the wider company.

Read more to see how the 2016 trainees got on in their first seats…

“Wow what a whirlwind my first seat was! Working within the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Portal has been great as it is so fast paced and you are able to focus on creating a really efficient client journey. It was also very interesting to discover the different skill sets required across different departments of the business and it’s always great to get positive feedback from the clients, which helps us to improve our processes and systems and demonstrates our capabilities as trusted personal injury specialists. I’m really excited to move over to the Litigation department for my second seat.” Rosie Owen

“My first seat was in Fast Track Non-Litigated Road Traffic Accident (RTA) claims and I valued learning how to handle claims where liability is disputed. This seat was really enlightening from a business point of view, as I gained more of an understanding of how Minster Law feeds our litigated caseload and Multi-Track department to improve outcomes. I also experienced using a case management system I have not used before, Proclaim, so my learning was multifaceted.” Clare Smeaton

“I found my first seat in the fraud department really interesting. I was managing my own small case load and assisted other members of the team with litigated and non-litigated work. ‘Due to the skill and expertise of my team members and the resources available to me in this seat’, I became much more confident dealing with the issue of fundamental dishonesty and dealing with a variety of complex fraud allegations. I received excellent support and guidance from my mentor, team manager and the rest of the team and I was able to build relationships with colleagues across the business.” Joanne Jewell-Purves

Keep up-to-date with more of the trainees’ progress at @inthelifeofPI on Twitter. To learn more about our Training Contracts and to see our other career opportunities, please click here.